“I keep saying that I’m gonna carve out time to get home and really devote my time and energy to creating an album,” he explains. “But I feel like I’m just sort of getting by by the skin of my teeth the past couple years.”

“So I’m just scraping up bits and pieces of songs that I’ve got started,” he continues, “and trying to put those out as I go and continue to tour.”

They may only be “bits and pieces,” but Sam’s latest efforts haven’t been too shabby. Last year’s “Body Like a Back Road” is a crossover smash that’s sold more than five-million copies, while his latest, “Downtown’s Dead,” is currently a top-20 hit on the country chart.

Sam’s latest distraction happens to be the stadium dates on Luke Bryan’s What Makes You Country trek.

“I didn’t plan on touring this summer,” Sam reveals, “but an opportunity came up to go out with Luke… and I couldn’t pass it up, because it was such a great opportunity.”

“But the end of the summer, fall, I think I’m gonna be able to hopefully sink my teeth into a project and have some new music ready to go before too long after that,” he predicts.

“I’ve had trouble getting back into the writing flow over the past few years, being on the road, and with my artist hat on. It’s just two different worlds to me, and I’m hoping I can tap back into it here soon, but I’m trying,” he laughs.